Kate Duffy

Biography

Kate is a creative and passionate coach, keynote speaker, facilitator, and storyteller. She’s spent the last 25 years collaborating with clients from Coca-Cola to the VA, as an individual contributor to the C-Suite, helping them find innovative and practical solutions to their real business challenges in the areas of leadership, management, sales, and high-performing teams.

In past roles, she has managed teams, conducted research, designed, and developed integrated, competency-based learning systems, engaged and coached senior leadership, facilitated training, and built long-term partnerships with customers. Currently, most of her work is in the classroom, whether physical or virtual, helping clients overcome personal and group barriers to success.

Kate believes that how we show up matters, and no matter where we are in our career, we can grow. She takes a practical, not academic, approach to her coaching and is often described by her clients as an energy ""tour de force."" A practiced storyteller and self-described business book nerd, Kate combines the art of storytelling with the latest research to keep engagement levels high and connections relevant.

In addition to her business background, Kate studied and taught improvisation for over twenty years at The Second City Chicago and works to combine the art of improvisation and business for top universities, including Duke, Columbia University, and UCLA, as part of their MBA and Executive Education programs. She uses the tenets of improvisation as tools to overcome communication breakdowns, resolve conflict, and improve psychological safety in teams—three areas she’s passionate about.

Kate was recognized and awarded for project excellence for her work with Harrah’s Casino, Home Depot, and the creation of Coca-Cola’s branded sales experience. She led these multi-year, global, high-performing project teams to successfully implement their large-scale change management strategies.

Niche Areas of Expertise

• Change Management
• Emotional Intelligence
• Executive Presence
• Leaders in Transition
• Organizational Development
• Team Effectiveness

Languages

• English